A Day at Starved Rock

A brilliant sunrise  before the storm.

A white-breasted nuthatch filling up on food before the snow begins.

The eagles have returned to Starved Rock.  We seen a dozen of them perched along the dam.  I think it's going to be a good year for eagle watching.

An adult takes off in search of fish at the dam.

He caught one and was enjoying his catch.

The snow has begun.  This little house finch is hiding out in a cedar tree.

My Nutty Friends

We have enjoyed feeding the squirrels for years.  They are comical at times.  The last few years, we have been getting a few black squirrels mixed in with the grey ones.

Lately, we have had one black and one grey one that have been coming up to our large picture window looking for treats. 

We are getting hit with snow and 40-50 MPH wind gusts today.  I threw out some peanuts, acorns and walnuts for the little guys.  Hope they stay warm enough!



It's all gone.  Where's more?



Great Horned Owl

I went out in my backyard to do a few things while the sun was shining. As I went out the door, I seen four crows flying across my yard to the tall trees along my lot line. As I was working, they just kept cawing and would not quit. I thought to myself, maybe there is an owl or something nearby that they don't like. I started to walk across the yard and seen what was bothering them. When I see what it was, I ran as fast I could into the house to grab my camera.

I was able to capture this Great Horned Owl, who was making them so mad. He did not like me so close, and flew to another tree. The second picture shows him in the tree with one of the crows descending down to chase him off. He flew further away in a neighbors tree, but the crows stayed with him and would not give up. The crows cawed loudly at him for over 15 minutes.

Finally, they gave up and left him alone. He was then able to sit high up in a tree enjoying the sun. Later when I looked for him, he had moved on. It made my whole day to see him and get a nice picture.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope this Thankgiving gives you much to be thankful for. May you have a big Tom like this one on your table.

Fall birds

The daylight is waning and the cold weather is gaining on us.  Many of summer's birds have moved south to warmer climates where food will be plentiful.  On warm fall days, birds could be seen filling up on the few bugs still in the area, preparing for their long flights.

We have seen the return of the black-eyed Juncos and know it's a sure sign cold and snow will be here soon.

Dark eyed junco

White-breasted nuthatch with a sunflower seed in it's beak.

This is the same nuthatch.  I was happy in the previous picture the bird let me get so close to photograph  him.  This picture showed me why....he's missing an eye!





A ruby crowned kinglet.  I read the females do not have the red feathers on top of their heads, so I am guessing this was the female.

This is the male ruby crowned kinglet.  He shows his red feathers when he feels threatened.  Obviously, I looked like danger to him.

Missouri Botanical Gardens

The Missouri Botanical Garden



The dome contains tropical plants and a dinosaur exhibit.  The kids loved it and the park hosts birthday parties here.

 On a recent trip, I spent a few hours visiting the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis.  What a wonderful place!  I highly recommend it to everyone. 

They have three large water lily ponds and many smaller ones scattered about.  The lillies are in so many colors and combinations.  I never imagined there were so many different ones.  They also grow the giant ones native to Asia.  The pads are easily two feet in diameter with huge white flowers.  I included a few water lily pictures.  It was near noon when I visited and the sun's lighting was harsh.  Also, the lily flowers were often far from the edge where I could stand to photograph them.  I would have given almost anything to put on a pair of waders and get in the ponds for  some closesups!

Not only were the lillies wonderful, I was amazed at the types of gardens (Japanese, Chinese, Victorian, and many more), the variety of flowers, and the insects that were there.  Even a garter snake was seen slithering along a path.  I seen at least three weddings taking place on the day I was there.  It was a lovely place for that.

I am happy to share some of my photos.  I seen so much and took so many photos.  I think if I lived closer to this botanical garden, I would start a blog dedicated just to photos from there. 

Enjoy the photos, but being there in person is the best!  Make sure to bring your camera! 


Not the best shot, but I wanted to show the giant lillies.  They had blown glass balls of many colors and patterns floating in this pond with them.



This is the first blue water lily I had ever seen.  It was gorgeous!



Another beauty!



A Toad Lily.

A Blue Hairstreak Butterfly on a very unique milkweed that had red flowers with yellow centers.

A Skipper butterfly on verbena.  Butterflies and bees are everywhere in this garden.

The center of this lily almost seemed to glow like an ember.

Hope you get to visit this place soon!  See more about this place online at http://www.mobot.org/.

Guess Again!

At first guess, most people would say this is a Monarch butterfly. It's not, it is a Viceroy. Viceroy's mimic Monarchs in the coloring, flight patterns and habits. They are slightly smaller sized and have a different pattern and markings on their wings. This poor fellow has seen better days. He's missing a wing tip and an antennae.

You might be offended by the background in which I photographed this butterfly, but it is actually a common place to find many butterflies. They love gravel and crushed limestone paths. It provides them with important minerals and salts for their diet.

Heading South

A White-crowned sparrow enjoying the warm sun on a fall day. I am amazed at how perfect the black and white stripes are on these bird's heads, It is a very unique marking. I hoped for this bird to turn more to show some of his brown wing, but it did not happen.

This variety of sparrow summers further north in Canada and only passes through the midwest in the spring and fall.

Pilated Woodpecker in Missouri

I was watching a red bellied woodpecker in a maple tree and caught movement about 50 feet above me. I was thrilled to see this male pilated woodpecker and get a quick picture. Usually the pilateds are very loud and you know when they are around. This one was completely quiet and I almost did not see him.

Yellowthroat

A female common yellowthroat picking bugs among the goldenrod blooms early on fall morning.

Almost grown

A young bluebird getting his or her adult colors.

Blue Heron

I stumbled upon the Blue Heron early one morning. I took several shots of him from various angles. I think the last one is my favorite, but please tell me if you like any of them. I was thrilled with how things just came together so well for this photo.

I was amazed at how perfect the lighting was. The background was the embankment reflected in the completely calm water. I thought it looked unusual.
I was surprised that in this light, the bird really did look blue. Most times when you see them they always look more gray.

THIS BUG'S FOR YOU

For KAP - It was almost dusk and I was walking along a path with bushes growing close to it. Suddenly, at eye level this spider drops down and startled me. After my initial gasp and expletive, I took a photo for you. Hope you enjoy this nasty thing.

I don't know what type it is and started to search online for it. It was creeping me out too much and I had to quit searching. If anyone knows what this is, let me know. It's the strangest one I've ever seen. The yellow body was the size of a thumbnail and was it completely round.

Pretty Butterfly

This is a Pearl Cresent butterfly. I was surprised to find out this is the most common and widespread butterfly in the United States.

Found on a Warm Fall Day

A Common Buckeye butterfly on wildflowers.

A Black and White Warbler. These guys are fast. Guess that's how they keep up with the bugs!

The Asters are blooming. Look perfect mixed with the many yellow flowers and Goldenrods blooming.

Milkweed pods are bursting open spreading their seeds for next year.